02 March 2012

Weekend Links

This video shows fantastic footage from school playgrounds in Berlin, and is real food for thought. Speaking about the playgrounds, Alistair Seaman shares that "the play equipment was always rustic, it was always quite adventurous; but they were deigned to be something to present the children with challenge and with risk." (via playscapes)

I live in the northwest, so I can't legally complain about the rain. So I'm thinking about going and digging in my garden just for a bit of mud appreciation so I'm not so tempted to call it "bad weather" in front of the kids. This interpretation of the Donald Crews and Robert Kalan book, Rain,is right up my alley.

I have to say that I did "pin" that book on pinterest; and as much as I try not to be someone who places blame, I think I have been sharing fewer and fewer things here because of that outlet. I'll be making a conscious effort to continue sharing here as well.

2 comments:

I loved the video you posted about Berlin playgrounds. It just goes to show how young children seek adventure and challenge in their play outdoors. They look for places they can explore and spaces they can transform. However, provision for exciting and challenging play outdoors is often restricted because of an over emphasis on safety, and perhaps because the value of play outdoors is not well understood. There seem to be questions to address such as:What do children learn through playing outdoors?What makes an effective and challenging play space?What is a safe environment and can children be too safe?How can adults best support challenging play outdoors?